ELMA — Last season, a taller, more experienced Elma boys basketball team went through a rough 2015-16 and never found a way to get some positive momentum going.
This season, with a smaller, younger squad, the Eagles are aiming to take flight earlier and stay up in the newly configured Evergreen 1A League.
“It is a totally different dynamic,” Elma head coach Marvin Prince said. “We’re going to be quick and short. The kids are working hard and this is a very different look from years past.”
On Tuesday, Elma (5-15 overall in 2015-16) will start the new season at Mount Rainier Lutheran.
Returning to the fold will be 6-foot-2 senior A.J. Brown, who’ll be the main interior offensive threat for Elma, along with 5-10 senior Levi Spalding, 6-0 junior Avery Brown, 5-6 senior Sohyte Tep and 6-0 senior Trace Thompson.
Avery Brown, A.J.’s brother and starting quarterback for the football Eagles, will see time as the point guard, while Tep and Spalding will assist him. Thompson, who was a varsity-junior varsity swing player last year, will work with A.J. Brown.
“Trace is fearless and Avery can be a knockout player for us,” Prince said. “A.J. is starting to figure out he can play like a big man. He can play bigger and if he’s able to do that, he’ll be a big asset for us.”
Freshman Cody Vollan, at 6-0, will step right up to the varsity lineup, according to Prince. Senior guard Isaac Horton will move up from junior varsity, along with sophomores Kilian Acuff and Sam Schneider.
“Honestly, this may be our best shooting team since I’ve been here,” Prince added. “Just about everyone on this team can fire the ball up. Last year, we tried to pound it inside, go through our big players in the paint. Now, this year, just from our size, we have to find a different way to score. Everyone is excited to see what we can do, of what we are capable of doing.”
Inside the Evergreen 1A, Prince noted Hoquiam as the favorite and cited Forks as a possible surprise team.
Helping out Prince this season will be longtime assistants Ken Witt and Carson Seaberg, with Tyson Farrar helping out on a part-time basis.
